


All the Riches

by SonnyD



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Assistant Sam, Kidnapping, M/M, Rich Bucky, Sam Wilson is So Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 21:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20767433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonnyD/pseuds/SonnyD
Summary: In which Bucky is an eccentric billionaire and Sam is his long suffering assistant.xXx“But I appreciate you. I really do,” Bucky insisted. Sam smiled, saccharine sweet, as he remembered the encounter he had earlier that morning.“Not enough.”





	All the Riches

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So, this is just my take on what it would be like if Bucky and Sam were like Tony and Pepper. Bucky being the billionaire and Sam his assistant. Unfortunately, the others don't appear in this but they just didn't come up in the story. I was hoping to post this for Sam's birthday but I'm too late. Is Samtember still happening? I don't know but anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Sam let himself into the penthouse, holding back a sigh at the mess that presented itself. The living room was trashed, clothes and other various items thrown about the room. He wished he could’ve been surprised by it but after many mornings (and some nights) picking up after his boss, he had become desensitized. Just one of the many perks of working for James Buchanan Barnes. He needed a raise.

He began to clean up the mess, finding the usual liquor bottles, clothes articles strewn about and other unmentionables. There were a few mystery stains, but Sam didn’t consider himself to be paid enough to try and clean them. He’d gladly – and a little guiltily – leave them for the cleaners. It had become a routine of sorts. It wasn’t to say that Bucky left the place as such every day, but it was often enough that Sam had experience in tidying up after wild parties and one night stands. It was sad, really but he tried not to think about it too much.

He had just finished up and headed to the kitchen to start on breakfast when he heard the shuffling of feet behind him. He turned around to see a half-dressed man blinking at him blearily. He looked vaguely familiar but if he had had his face on the cover of a magazine or on TV at any point, then Sam didn’t remember, nor did he care. He had seen way too many celebrities passing through the penthouse to be affected anymore. The guy looked confused by Sam’s presence and it was a little amusing.

“Good morning,” Sam greeted, nonchalantly. The man frowned, crossing his arms.

“Good morning?” he replied, sounding lost. “I didn’t realize that James had his assistant live with him.”

Sam hummed, noting the use of ‘James’ and not ‘Bucky’. The ones that Bucky liked, he’d allow them to use his lesser known nickname but to the others, it was ‘James’. That was how he’d explained it to Sam, anyway.

“I didn’t realize that _James _had a guest,” he said, his tone mocking. The guy seemed to recognize it as his face twisted into a scowl. He opened his mouth to protest, probably, when a woman came up beside him. Her appearance was much like the guy’s; a ‘just rolled out of bed’ look. She blinked at them, glancing back and forth between the two men.

“Oh, sorry. Two guests,” Sam continued, unperturbed. He turned on the coffee machine and bustled about the kitchen, making breakfast. He paid little attention to Thing One and Thing Two still standing in the doorway but made sure to always keep an eye on them. When the coffee was ready, it was then that he finally turned back to face them.

“Coffee to go?” he offered. The woman smiled, looking as though she was about to accept. Before she could say anything, however, the man beside her chose that moment to speak up.

“To go? What do you mean ‘to go?’” he asked, haughtily as Sam poured some coffee into a to-go cup, one of the many that were bought for this situation exactly. “You have no right, I’m sure, to kick us out. After all, you’re only here to take out the trash and clean up after James. Am I right?”

“I’m sorry, but do you not know what ‘go’ means?” Sam quipped, ushering them out of the room. “If not, then I’ll gladly re-establish your preschool education. It means you need to leave.”

He gestured towards the couch which held their clothing, neatly folded and stacked after Sam had found them lying around. The woman began to get dressed while the man stood there glaring at him. He only moved when he was prompted by the woman to hurry up. Sam led them to the elevator once they were finished and handed the woman her coffee, which she took gratefully.

“I’m sorry but Mr. Barnes has a lot of work to do. He can’t afford to be distracted by anyone or anything at the moment,” Sam said.

The guy sniffed, “You can’t speak to me like that.”

Sam raised an eyebrow, his smile sickly sweet as he replied.

“Oh? Well, I do think I maintain that right as Mr. Barnes’ assistant. After all, it is my duty to take out the trash,” he said and turned to the woman with a genuine smile. “Have a nice day.”

With that, he stepped back, letting the elevator doors close. The guy’s dropped jaw and the woman’s amused smile were the last things he saw before the doors closed. Sam went back to the kitchen, letting the encounter roll off his back. He had dealt with far worse and besides, he needed to start cooking. Just as he was plating up breakfast, he heard dragging footsteps behind him. Bucky shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Unlike Mr. Stuffy (or Thing 1), he managed to look cute while being dishevelled. Sam tried to clear that thought from his mind almost immediately. The last thing he needed was to realize his feelings for his employer of all people, though he suspected that he was a little too late.

“Morning, Sammy,” Bucky greeted, taking a seat at the table. He grinned when he saw the plate before him. “Aw, have I ever told you how much I love you?”

Sam smirked, “Only when I feed you or give you coffee.”

He poured a cup for Bucky and put it in front of him, taking one for himself afterwards. Bucky smiled up at him in thanks and Sam felt his heart beginning to race at the simple glance.

“But I appreciate you. I really do,” Bucky insisted. Sam smiled, saccharine sweet, as he remembered the encounter he had earlier that morning.

“Not enough.”

He sat down across from the other man and started to go through Bucky’s itinerary, hoping to get through one more day of suffering because of his irrelevant feelings.

* * *

Later that day, Sam and Bucky were in the latter’s office, having just left a conference call.

“I mean, did you see the look on his face?” Bucky ranted as he typed something on his laptop. “As if he actually expected me agree.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “What did I tell you about running your mouth during board meetings?”

“Uh, I can’t remember?” Bucky replied, flashing his assistant a charming smile. Sam only gave him an unimpressed look in return, ignoring his accelerated heartbeat.

“We agreed on the merger,” he said. “You can’t go back on your word now.”

Bucky pursed his lips, “It’s more like a takeover, isn’t it?”

“True, since you are buying them,” Sam conceded.

“We, Sammy. Since _we _are buying them.”

“Hmm?”

“You did a lot of the grunt work, after all. It would be a sin not to give you credit.”

Sam smiled, “Being generous, are we?”

“I’m always generous, sweetheart,” Bucky said. Sam couldn’t stop the abrupt laughter that bubbled out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but _you_?” he chuckled, “We are talking about the same Bucky Barnes here, right?”

Bucky rolled his eyes, “Okay, I get it. I’m not the kindest person in the world but you didn’t have to be mean about it.”

“Yes, I did,” Sam replied, frankly. He glanced at his watch and began to collect his things upon realising the time. “I should go. We have to be here early tomorrow anyway and I’m sure Redwing misses me.”

“Are you really going to make your way home at almost 8 in the evening? Maybe you should stay at my place.”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not like I’m walking,” Sam said with a shrug. He began to make his way to the door as Bucky stared after him in concern.

“This is my last offer, Sammy. You can even bring the bird with you. Take it or leave it.”

“I’m leaving it. Goodnight, Bucky.”

“Goodnight.”

Bucky sighed, watching as his assistant stepped through the door. He would be fine. Hopefully.

Sam pulled into his parking space, glad to finally be home. He couldn’t wait to get upstairs into his apartment and relax. He quickly took up his stuff and climbed out of the car. The parking garage was quiet, the only sound being that of the car door closing. He stuffed the keys into his pocket, making to turn around when a hand suddenly came over his mouth.

Sam let out a muffled yelp, dropping his stuff to struggle out of the person’s grip. It was a losing battle, however, as they dragged him backwards and away from the car. There was a sharp prick of pain in the side of his neck and it wasn’t long before he felt his movements getting sluggish. His legs stopped kicking and his arms, suddenly heavy, dropped to his sides as he let go of his attacker’s hand. The words _‘Oh shit’ _were the last that floated through his mind before he lost consciousness.

* * *

The room was dark, Sam realised as he began to wake up. He blinked, feeling disoriented as he tried to gain his bearings. His blurry vision soon cleared up and he got a good look at the bleak room that he was in. Bare concrete walls and a single light bulb hanging above his head, the light barely existing. There were no windows and the only entrance seemed to be a steel plated door right across from him. He looked down and realised that he was strapped to a chair. He moved his arm, just to see if he could somehow break out of his restraints but no luck. They were tight and probably reinforced.

Sam sighed. Was this really what his life had come to? And because of what? Bucky? There was no other logical reason for his kidnapping. His family wasn’t involved with anything illegal and he had never done anything to gain the attention of a psychopath, or at least he didn’t think so. Besides, what better way to get back at a (mostly) smarmy billionaire with more money than he knew what to do with and a penchant for upsetting people? Gosh, Sam had no idea what he even saw in him. It must have been something wonderful because he couldn’t even find it in himself to be that angry. Of course, he was upset, but not ‘willing to burn down the whole building’ upset. Not yet.

He sighed, looking around once more as he tried to figure out his next course of action. Suddenly, the door slid open and a dark, hulking figure entered the room. Sam squinted at the person who closed the door and stepped out of the shadows. A tall man glared down at him, his dark, curly hair falling into his face and partially covering his angry eyes. His black t-shirt left nothing to the imagination, his muscular arms flexing as they crossed over his buff chest. Sam had no doubt that this was the man who had kidnapped him.

“You’re awake,” the man noted, uselessly.

Sam rolled his eyes, “Thank you for that brilliant observation. I honestly didn’t notice that.”

The man’s eyes narrowed and he scoffed.

“Figures you’d be cocky,” he sneered.

“What?”

“I mean,” the man continued as though Sam hadn’t spoken, “it only makes sense that as Barnes’ assistant you’d be just as full of yourself.”

_‘I knew this had something to do with Bucky,’ _Sam thought.

“Wow, such a shocking revelation. Anything else you want to add, genius?” he snapped.

“Yes, actually. I hope you enjoy your stay here because I have no intention of setting you free anytime soon.”

“Why am I even in here?”

“You can thank James Barnes for that. It’s his fault why I’m like this.”

_‘A psychopath?’_

“Look, man-”

“No, you look!” his abductor snapped. “I would never have been in this position if it weren’t for him and his company. My dad was one the best workers that his job ever had and all of that was lost just because of some tech they ordered from Barnes Inc. He had an accident when one of the machines malfunctioned and he died. Do you know what your wonderful boss did next? Absolutely nothing! They just stood by and let my father’s legacy die! I swore that I was gonna get revenge on that no good, scheming lowlife and now’s my chance.”

Sam watched as he smirked, proud of his plan before sauntering over to the door and out of the room. He made up his mind right there, sitting in the dark, musty room. Barnes was _so _getting his ass kicked.

* * *

Sam wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there. It might have been minutes, hours, maybe even longer than a day. It didn’t really matter to him at that point. He was tired, hungry, and sore and he really wanted to go home. He wondered what was taking the police so long. Perhaps his kidnapper was actually more intelligent than Sam had figured. That just made it all the worst for him as he sat there, trying to fight sleep. He felt his eyelids drooping as he slouched in his chair. He was tired…so tired…

_Bang!_

Sam jumped in his seat, wide awake as he was startled by the sudden noise. He listened for another sound, his heart pounding against his ribcage. The sound of gunfire was quickly getting closer. Then, silence. His shoulders tense, Sam waited to hear anything else but was surprised when the door suddenly burst open. He visibly relaxed once he recognized the person standing on the other side.

“Glad to see you didn’t forget me.”

Bucky didn’t reply as he approached Sam, hastily removing his restraints. He helped the other man to stand up and started to lead him out of the room into a brightly lit hallway. Sam took notice of his kidnapper lying motionless on the ground not too far away.

“He’s not dead, is he?

“Unfortunately, no,” Bucky answered, gruffly.

“What happened to your arm?”

“I finished working on it while you were locked up with this psycho.”

Sam only nodded, staring at the metal limb hanging from Bucky’s side. It was a far cry from the regular prosthetic that his boss had been toting around before. He winced when they were suddenly plunged into sunlight. Hours of being stuck in the dark made his eyes sensitive. Sam looked around, taking note of the abandoned warehouses for miles around as squad cars began to pull up along with an ambulance.

Bucky helped Sam over to the ambulance as officers piled out of the cars, some of them storming into the warehouse that the two men had just exited. As Sam got checked out by a paramedic, a policeman approached Bucky who stood sentry over his assistant.

“What happened to waiting?” he questioned, giving Bucky a reproachful look.

“You were taking too long,” Bucky replied, shrugging without looking away from Sam. The officer just sighed a long-suffering sigh as if he couldn’t be bothered to get upset about it.

“Well, just give us a warning next time,” he said before collecting their statements. After Sam was given a clean bill of health, he was sent home with instructions to get some food in him, which he would be sure to follow.

Bucky drove him to his apartment and helped him to get settled in. Sam could have protested at being babied but he knew better. He listened as Bucky busied himself in the kitchen while he snuggled with Redwing on the couch. The bird wasn’t normally this clingy, but he seemed just as determined to comfort Sam as Bucky did.

“Yeah, I know. I missed you too,” Sam cooed. He looked up as his boss entered the living room, carefully placing a tray on the coffee table. Hot soup, crackers and a bottle of water. Sam reached forward to take up a cracker, Redwing climbing onto his shoulder as Bucky sat beside him. Silence fell over them. Sam fiddled with his cracker, unsure of what to say as Bucky seemingly stared into space.

“Thank you,” he finally whispered.

“Hm?”

“I never thanked you for saving me,” Sam clarified. “So, thank you.”

Bucky made an abrupt move as if reaching for the other man then stopped.

“Sam –”

He paused. He glared at a spot over Sam’s shoulder and the other man frowned. He had never seen his boss at such a loss for words.

“When you left, I thought about going after you. I did, eventually. I found your stuff on the ground and that’s when I called the police. You…you scared me.”

Sam stared at Bucky, searching for something to say. He reached out and sighed when the billionaire grasped his hand.

“I was scared too. I mean, the only thing I was sure of was that it had to be your fault somehow,” he started, and Bucky snorted. “I’m just…glad that I’m back.”

They didn’t say anything after that as Sam ate and Bucky stared into space but not once did he let go of the assistant’s hand.

* * *

Sam didn’t return to work until a few weeks had passed. By then, he had a lot to catch up on because a certain someone refused to hire a temporary assistant in his absence. It took a while for things to return to normal, with Bucky being clingy and slightly overbearing. Even when things died down, there was still an unusual tension between them.

About two months after the incident, Sam was getting ready to leave work. He glanced up from his laptop as heard someone enter the room.

“Hey. I’m just sending off the last few emails and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Leaving so soon?” Bucky asked, crossing his arms. He had already dressed down, having taken off his jacket and his tie with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. Sam looked away somewhat reluctantly from the sight of said shirt sticking to Bucky’s abs. He made a mental note to get someone to pick up some more loose-fitting clothes for him.

“Why? You miss me already?” he teased. He clicked send on the last email and began to shut down everything.

“Maybe,” Bucky said with a grin, then more seriously, “How’s dinner sound?”

“Uh,” Sam checked the time, “sure. Where are we eating?”

“Well, here actually.”

“Sorry?”

“Follow me.”

Sam narrowed his eyes suspiciously but closed his laptop and went after Bucky. He was mildly surprised when he was led to the roof. He completely stopped in his tracks when he saw a table laid out with dinnerware and candles. There was a moving tray nearby with food and a bottle of wine.

“I don’t understand. What’s this?” he asked, cautiously.

Bucky came to stand beside him.

“When you got kidnapped, it made me think. I realised how lost I was without you. I realised how much I don’t want to continue without you here. I’m just some big schmuck when you’re not here to help me and insult me, Sammy.”

Sam opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say. His mind was going into overdrive and he didn’t know what to feel.

“Bucky,” he finally started, “what are you trying to say?”

Bucky turned to face him and took Sam’s hands in his.

“I’m trying to say that I’m in love with you.”

“Oh.”

Sam stared down at their hands, watching as Bucky rubbed his knuckles with his thumbs. He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak.

“It sure took you long enough to say that.”

Bucky snorted and raised Sam’s head with a hand under his chin. He leaned in slowly, allowing the other man to close the distance. Sam didn’t disappoint, sealing his lips against Bucky’s. It was short but Sam felt everything that had been building up to this moment.

“As nice as this is, and it is, I hope you don’t think we can get away with this problem free.”

Bucky smiled, “Don’t worry about that now. We can talk later. Dinner time.”

Sam levelled him with an unimpressed glare but let himself be pulled over to the table. When Bucky wasn’t looking, he allowed a small smile to slip through. He wouldn’t expect to have a relationship without issues because of their positions but for now, for this night, he could forget about that.


End file.
